DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0133
RAPHAEL SANZIO d’uRBINO.
129
5. Paul and Barnabas at Lustra.
“ Then the priest of Jupiter which was before their city
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have
done sacrifice with the people, which when the apostles
Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes.”
Acts xiv. 13, 14.
On the left Paul and Barnabas are standing be-
neath a portico, and appear to recoil from the
intention of the townsmen to offer sacrifice to
them; the first is rending his garment and re-
buking a man who is bringing a ram to be offered.
On the right, near the centre, is seen a group of
the people bringing forward two oxen; a man is
raising an axe to strike one of them down ; his arm
is held back by a youth who, having observed the
abhorrent gesture of Paul, judges that the sacrifice
will be offensive to him. In the foreground ap-
pears the cripple, no longer so, who is clasping his
hands with an expression of gratitude ; his crutches
lie useless at his feet: an old man, raising part of
his dress, gazes with a look of astonishment on the
restored limbs. In the background, the forum of
Lystra, with several temples. Towards the centre
ls seen a statue of Mercury, in allusion to the
words in the text: “ And they called Paul, Mer-
curius, because he was the chief speaker.”
As a composition this cartoon is an instance of
the consummate skill with which Raphael has con-
trived to bring together a variety of circumstances
129
5. Paul and Barnabas at Lustra.
“ Then the priest of Jupiter which was before their city
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have
done sacrifice with the people, which when the apostles
Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes.”
Acts xiv. 13, 14.
On the left Paul and Barnabas are standing be-
neath a portico, and appear to recoil from the
intention of the townsmen to offer sacrifice to
them; the first is rending his garment and re-
buking a man who is bringing a ram to be offered.
On the right, near the centre, is seen a group of
the people bringing forward two oxen; a man is
raising an axe to strike one of them down ; his arm
is held back by a youth who, having observed the
abhorrent gesture of Paul, judges that the sacrifice
will be offensive to him. In the foreground ap-
pears the cripple, no longer so, who is clasping his
hands with an expression of gratitude ; his crutches
lie useless at his feet: an old man, raising part of
his dress, gazes with a look of astonishment on the
restored limbs. In the background, the forum of
Lystra, with several temples. Towards the centre
ls seen a statue of Mercury, in allusion to the
words in the text: “ And they called Paul, Mer-
curius, because he was the chief speaker.”
As a composition this cartoon is an instance of
the consummate skill with which Raphael has con-
trived to bring together a variety of circumstances